SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AMONG INFORMAL ENTREPRENEURS: EVIDENCE FROM MEXICO

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (03) ◽  
pp. 2050021
Author(s):  
CRISTIAN E. VILLANUEVA ◽  
ADRIANELA ANGELES ◽  
LUZ CECILIA REVILLA
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Mexico City ◽  
Informal Sector ◽  
Informal Economy ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Formal Economy ◽  
Formal Organizations

Social responsibility (SR) has been widely studied within formal organizations, especially in large companies in developed countries. However, studies about SR in the informal sector is still insufficient. Addressing this gap is relevant for developing countries where informality is becoming extensive and is growing faster than the formal economy. This research has two main objectives: (1) determine whether in an informal economy context, entrepreneurs could perform SR and (2) if it is possible to have SR, to examine critically the way informal entrepreneurs perform it. To achieve these objectives, this study conducted 50 face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with informal entrepreneurs (IEs) in Mexico City. The outcome of this research shows evidence that IEs can perform SR in an implicit form, despite their adverse and vulnerable conditions.

ENTREPRENEURIAL DRIVE AND THE INFORMAL ECONOMY IN CAMEROON

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (04) ◽  
pp. 1450024 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHRISTOPHER F. ACHUA ◽  
ROBERT N. LUSSIER
Keyword(s):  
Informal Economy ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Formal Economy ◽  
Curve Effect ◽  
Street Corner ◽  
Do So

There is a growing appreciation for the value and impact of the informal economy on the lives and livelihood of many in developing economies. A key question for researchers has been whether those operating in it do so out of necessity or voluntarily as opportunity seekers? Unlike previous studies that have examined the informal economy as one large block, this paper took a slightly different tangent. First, we analyzed and identified three distinct sub-groups within the informal entrepreneurial sector — the street walker (st. walker), the street corner (st. corner) and store owner (st. owner) — and then examined each group's motives. Reporting the results of face-to-face structured interviews with 200 informal entrepreneurs in Cameroon (West Africa), the finding is that the majority, especially st. walker and st. corner informal entrepreneurs, are predominantly necessity-driven while st. owner entrepreneurs are predominantly opportunity-driven. Our study also revealed a progression pattern whereby st. walkers do progress to st. corner and ultimately to st. owner entrepreneurs. The assumption is that this does create a learning curve effect in the entrepreneurial abilities and effectiveness of store owners. This is an area for future research. There are policy implications for institutional support that can grow the informal economy into the formal economy.

THE NATURE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE INFORMAL SECTOR: EVIDENCE FROM ENGLAND

2007 ◽  
Vol 12 (02) ◽  
pp. 239-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
COLIN C. WILLIAMS
Keyword(s):  
Informal Sector ◽  
Third World ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Public ◽  
Informal Workers ◽  
Formal Economy ◽  
Informal Entrepreneurship ◽  
Conventional Representation

Mirroring the representation of informal workers in a third world context as displaying entrepreneurial qualities, recent years have witnessed the emergence of a similar view of the informal sector in western nations as a hidden enterprise culture. Until now, however, few attempts have been made to analyze the nature and motives of informal entrepreneurs in western economies. Instead, it has been widely assumed that those engaged in entrepreneurship in the informal sector are those marginalized from the formal economy and driven out of necessity into this endeavor as a last resort. The aim of this paper is to evaluate critically this "marginalization thesis". Reporting the findings of face-to-face structured interviews with 130 informal entrepreneurs in England, the conventional representation of these entrepreneurs as necessity-driven, as well as an emergent depiction of them as opportunity-driven, is transcended. Instead, a richer and more textured understanding of informal entrepreneurship is developed that replaces such either/or thinking by a both/and approach that depicts how the majority are concurrently both necessity- and opportunity-driven. The paper then concludes by exploring the public policy implications of this rereading of the nature of informal entrepreneurship in western economies.

EVALUATING THE MOTIVES OF INFORMAL ENTREPRENEURS IN KOFORIDUA, GHANA

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (01) ◽  
pp. 1250005 ◽  
Author(s):  
KWAME ADOM ◽  
COLIN C. WILLIAMS
Keyword(s):  
Informal Economy ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Formal Economy ◽  
Majority World ◽  
Informal Entrepreneurship ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Economic Necessity ◽  
Gender Variations

In recent years, there has been growing recognition in the entrepreneurship literature that many entrepreneurs operate in the informal economy and that not all these informal entrepreneurs are doing so out of economic necessity and because of a lack of choice. Instead, it has been asserted that some of these informal entrepreneurs choose to exit the formal economy and trade on an off-the-books basis more as a matter of choice. However, until now most research displaying this has been conducted in advanced western and post-socialist economies. Little has been written on whether this is also the case in third (majority) world countries. This paper starts to fill this gap by evaluating informal entrepreneurs' motives in sub-Saharan Africa. Reporting the results of face-to-face structured interviews with 80 informal entrepreneurs in Ghana, the finding is that the majority, especially the women informal entrepreneurs, are predominantly necessity-driven while those who are principally intentional participants in informal entrepreneurship are men. However, many women who initially entered informal entrepreneurship out of necessity have over time become more opportunity-driven entrepreneurs. The outcome is a call for wider research in other global regions on informal entrepreneurs' motives and whether similar gender variations prevail.

scholarly journals Why Is Growth in Developing Countries So Hard to Measure?

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 215-242
Author(s):  
Noam Angrist ◽  
Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg ◽  
Dean Jolliffe
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Informal Economy ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
National Accounts ◽  
Large Share ◽  
System Of National Accounts ◽  
Growth Measurement ◽  
Audit Data

Occasional widely publicized controversies have led to the perception that growth statistics from developing countries are not to be trusted. Based on the comparison of several data sources and analysis of novel IMF audit data, we find no support for the view that growth is on average measured less accurately or manipulated more in developing than in developed countries. While developing countries face many challenges in measuring growth, so do higher-income countries, especially those with complex and sometimes rapidly changing economic structures. However, we find consistently higher dispersion of growth estimates from developing countries, lending support to the view that classical measurement error is more problematic in poorer countries and that a few outliers may have had a disproportionate effect on (mis)measurement perceptions. We identify several measurement challenges that are specific to poorer countries, namely limited statistical capacity, the use of outdated data and methods, the large share of the agricultural sector, the informal economy, and limited price data. We show that growth measurement based on the System of National Accounts (SNA) can be improved if supplemented with information from other data sources (for example, satellite-based data on vegetation yields) that address some of the limitations of SNA.

scholarly journals Development of corporate social responsibility framework for developing countries: the case of Kazakhstan

2021 ◽  
pp. 20-39
Author(s):  
A. Orazayeva ◽  
M. Arslan
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
General Framework ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose of research. The aim of this systematic review is to develop a general framework which is applicable for analysis of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in developing economies. This framework is further applied to transitional economy such as Kazakhstan.Methodology. This study presents a systematic review of existing CSR literature on developing economies. The study used the content analysis approach and identified the relevant studies by searching the keywords. Based on existing literature, the study developed a general framework which summarizes mostly noted motives and limitations relevant for CSR discussion in the context of developing countries.Originality / value. The most of existing studies aimed on developed countries and limited research is conducted in the context of developing countries that are characterised by weak institutional environment and have different socio-economic factors, compared to their counterparts. The study adds value to existing CSR literature by developing the framework which summarizes motives and limitations of CSR for developing countries.Findings. We identified that most of existing studies have reported the barriers of undertaking CSR research and documented the factors such as corruption, weak stakeholder activism and lack of government controls as main constraints. On the other hand, existing studies reported that religious traditions, historical background, globalization, and government institutional voids are the main drivers of CSR studies. Subsequent application of the framework to Kazakhstan shows that these constraints and motives are also true for the country.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of Central Bank Independence via Its Internal Characteristics

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroll H. Griffin
Keyword(s):  
Central Bank ◽  
Informal Economy ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Central Banks ◽  
Central Bank Independence ◽  
Reserve Requirements ◽  
Formal Economy ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Macroeconomic Environment

This study examines central bank independence in developing countries of Latin America and Asia as well as selected developed countries. Many countries around the world, both developed and developing, have accepted the idea of central bank independence over the last several decades, so central banks have autonomy. A majority of studies has examined primarily the impact of central bank independence on inflation as promoting the theoretical benefits of a more stable and prosperous macroeconomic environment. However, there is only now sufficient data to empirically determine whether these claims are true. This research attempts to answer why developing economies with an informal sector resort to inflationary measures to finance their activities; how does a government induce an agent to choose the formal economy. In the trade-off between inflation and reserve requirements, the optimal policy is maximum inflation and minimum reserve requirements as increasing the steady-state utility of an optimizing agent. Also agents prefer the informal economy if policy relies on a maximum reserve requirement.  

scholarly journals Governance Assessment of the Flood’s Infrastructure Policy in San Pedro Cholula, Mexico: Potential for a Leapfrog to Water Sensitive

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 7144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cesar Casiano Flores ◽  
Joep Crompvoets ◽  
Maria Eugenia Ibarraran Viniegra ◽  
Megan Farrelly
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Governance System ◽  
Urban Floods ◽  
Urban Flood ◽  
San Pedro

Climate change together with population growth and land-use change have increased the risk of urban floods. Urban floods cause severe damages to cities and their inhabitants, and they are expected to increase over time. Consequently, urban adaptation is required to shift from traditional infrastructure (grey) to multifunctional infrastructure (blue-green) for improved flood management. Until recently, studies on the role and adoption of blue-green infrastructure have centered around large cities in developed countries, including Melbourne and Rotterdam, among others. Meanwhile, middle-sized cities in developing countries have received less attention. According to the Urban Water Management Transition Framework (UWMTF), cities in developing countries can learn from the experiences of developed cities and leapfrog to more ‘water sensitive’ practices. Although leapfrogging is context-dependent, our understanding of factors that support leapfrogging remains embryonic. This paper contributes to the scholarly understanding of the governance factors that support and limit leapfrogging. By applying the Governance Assessment Tool through semi-structured interviews and reviewing secondary data, this research assessed the implementation of flood protection infrastructure in San Pedro Cholula, a middle size city of Mexico. This work found the most supportive quality for delivering multifunctional infrastructure, was the extent of the governance system. The governance support extent was rated as moderate-low considering the platform for change is limited to government actors, which has further reinforced traditional approaches to infrastructure. In addition, the necessary governance features of coherence, flexibility and intensity were assessed as constraining change, with flexibility being the least supportive governance factor and ultimately hindering social actors’ participation and innovation. While the contemporary governance arrangements of San Pedro Cholula are not yet conducive to promoting a leapfrog in the delivery of urban flood infrastructure, the analysis has pointed to three catalytic factors to underpin a leapfrogging situation: trans-disciplinary science; cross-sector partnerships; and, innovation experiments.

Defining Corporate Social Responsibility for Developing and Developed Countries

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duane Windsor
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Fair Trade ◽  
Multinational Enterprises ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Theory Versus ◽  
Path Dependent ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Alternative Understanding

This chapter proposes a conceptual framework for comparing enterprise and governmental approaches to corporate social responsibility (CSR) for developed and developing countries. An enterprise approach is voluntary. A governmental approach provides either requirements or guidance, strong or weak, for enterprise CSR. Focus is on multinational enterprises (MNEs), for two reasons. First, MNEs may operate across quite different conditions. Second, a major MNE concern has to do with fair trade and sustainable development supply chains. The chapter considers three approaches found in the extant literature. One approach asserts autonomy of developing countries from developed countries, and thus divergence of enterprise and governmental CSR by type of context. A second approach examines global convergence as highly context path-dependent and perhaps cosmetic. A third approach emphasizes “glocality” combining global thinking with local action. The author proposes an alternative understanding of how to compare CSR for developed and developing countries using theory versus context.

To What Extent Can the Informal Economy Concept Adequately Explain the Dynamism of the Non-Formal Sector in Developing Countries?

2009 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazia Habib-Mintz
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Informal Economy ◽  
Academic Discourse ◽  
Formal Sector ◽  
Formal Economy ◽  
Income Generating Activities ◽  
Developed Nations ◽  
Economic Income

The informal economy exists in both developing and developed nations, though it is most often associated as an engine of economic dynamism in developing countries. The concept is generally defined as the sum of economic income generating activities outside of the formal economy, which are registered, tax paying and legal. Since the 1970s when the term first entered academic discourse, the informal economy conceptually evolved through several distinct phases starting with neoliberal, then to reformist and next structuralist ideology before the term outgrew its usefulness in the 1990s and turned into operate outside of the formal economy. This paper argues that the discourse of the informal economy remains inadequate and ill-defined lemma on mainstreaming the informal economy.

Self-initiated expatriates in the local organizations of developing countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (7) ◽  
pp. 1659-1674 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajiv Kumar ◽  
Jagdeep Chhokar
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Qualitative Research Design ◽  
Local Organizations ◽  
Industrial Decline ◽  
Organizational Maturity ◽  
Role Allocation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report three main findings. First, the paper reports why local organizations in developing countries would demand self-initiated expatriates (SIEs); second, the paper reports why SIEs accept employment with such organizations; and third, the paper reports the factors that seem to govern the role allocation to SIEs. Design/methodology/approach The authors used semi-structured interviews to elicit and collect data. The authors followed the procedures of grounded theory for data analysis. Findings Local organizations in developing countries seem increasingly willing to employ SIEs. Emergence of hitherto nonexistent businesses, rapid expansion, global ambition and organizational maturity seem to drive the demand for SIEs. Industrial decline elsewhere, attractiveness of emerging economies, challenging role, prior experience within similar countries and non-working spouse are factors that enable the SIEs’ acceptance of employment with such organizations. Required boundary spanning and repatriation status determine the role allocation for SIEs. Research limitations/implications The findings may be idiosyncratic as they result from a qualitative research design. External validity could, therefore, be low. Practical implications Managers can benefit by comprehending the factors motivating SIEs to work for local organizations in developing countries. SIEs can benefit by understanding why such organizations need them, and the roles they are likely to get therein. Originality/value Unlike the typical SIEs studied in literature, the authors theorize about SIEs who move from developed countries to work in developing countries and occupy senior positions. Additionally, unlike a typical SIE study, the authors gathered the perspectives of both SIEs and organizations. Lastly, the paper is about an emerging trend: SIEs’ employment in the local organizations of developing countries.

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